Category Archives: Jewelry

A few months ago I placed a post about Folk Art Gallery in Bali. This time I do it again! Why?… Besides the fascinating collection of museum grade art and artifacts they also sell amazing beautiful jewelry, called jUjU Art Jewelry. I just have to show you…

jUjU Art Jewelry is the culmination of over 30 years of jewelry design, creation, and folk art experiences. All of jUjU Art Jewelry is handmade from beginning to end, one unique piece at a time.

If you’re going to Bali or you are already in Bali you should visit Folk Art Gallery and you will notice I am right. If you enter the gallery you feel you are discovering exotic locations of the globe…

If you are not going to Bali then you should have a look on their websites. If you fall in love with the fascinating collection or the beautiful jewelry, no problem you can buy your favorite piece via the webshop.

At the moment I’m in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Visiting family and friends.

I would like to introduce you to one of my best friends, Carla Palermo.
She is a beautiful colorful sweet and warm person.
Her parents come from Indonesia so Carla’s roots lie in Indonesia.

Carla is the owner of Carla Palermo, a vintage and new fashion shop downtown Amsterdam.

The area where the shop is located is called the 9-Straatjes, Amsterdam’s coolest and hip shopping area. Carla Palermo is a great shop. You’ll find exclusive vintage clothing, bags and boots but also you’ll find new fashion and jewelry. I heard a woman say, this shop is like a candy store for women…

Beside the vintage and new fashion Carla sells Blubambu Buddha necklaces. The profit, 100%, of these necklaces goes to charity in Bali. Some of the new clothes in the shop are made in Bali, in small fair-trade companies.

Carla Palermo also supports deaf girls in Bali, she pays the salary of the craft teacher so the girls get sewing lessons and she financially supports a toddler so the toddler can go to kindergarten.

A few weeks ago I went to Tampaksiring, visiting the factory of Huka Huka Steel & Silver, organic piercing.

Huka Huka has shops in Legian/Kuta and Tampaksiring. They sell organic piercings and jewelry made from steel, silver, bone, horn and wood. Also carved skulls from buffalo’s, cows and goats are for sale. Some people don’t like it but many people do. In Tampaksiring you’ll find many shops selling this kind of skulls and many designers buy small skulls made from bone and horn for fashion and jewelry because it is very popular now a days. The people of Tampaksiring are very good in carving.

Several times I visited the shop in Legian to order some jewelry. Gusti Alit Ardana, the owner of the shop told me about the factory in Tampaksiring. I asked him if it was possible to visit the factory because I love to see craftsmen at work while creating all these beautiful pieces by hand.

It was great to see the Huka Huka factory and Tampaksiring is also a very nice village to visit.

If you are in Legian or Tampaksiring and interested in some nicely shaped piece of steel, silver, bone, horn or wood don’t miss the Huka Huka stores.

My friends and I got an invitation to visit the John Hardy compound. John Hardy is the brand name for exclusive luxury silver and gold handmade jewelry and lifestyle accessories. The compound is located at Mambal, close to Ubud. Approximately 700 people work on the compound.

If you enter the compound it feels like stepping into paradise, the location is amazing. This is not a boring factory but a very, very green work environment. Beautiful bamboo buildings with yellow and orange Balinese flags surrounded by big trees. Bridges over small rivers. Animals, flowers and much more of what nature offers us.

We got a tour of the workplaces, to view the process of jewelry making. It was very impressive to watch the workers make the jewelry and lifestyle accessories all by hand. Loved the beautiful bamboo showroom as well as the amazing authentic Balinese open-air kitchen. Except for the fridge they don’t use electricity or gas in the kitchen, they use wood fire instead. Every day for lunch a meal of traditional Indonesian specialties is prepared for approx. 700 people. Because they are dedicated to sustainable living, produce form their organic garden and surrounding farms is used for the delicious meals.

After the tour we enjoyed such a traditional lunch together with all the managers and other guests. The food was really delicious, we loved all of it, the lunch, the tour, the buildings, the people, …

Unfortunately it is not allowed to make photos of the workplaces and jewelry so I show you the beautiful location, kitchen and showroom.

If you love brass jewelry you have to go to Street Dogs in a hurry. Until end of June 50% off on all jewelry. Besides brass jewelry you will find also bronze sterling silver plate jewelry, jewelry with glass beads, money clips, small bronze statues etc.